hogsvilleBrit
GOALÐ! GOALÐ! GOALÐ!
Poor spelling on a wall in Tórshavn, capital of the Faroe Islands.
As any scholar of Faroese will tell you, the letter Edd (Ð,ð) is a curious linguistic beast: only there because Icelandic has it, but never pronounced. Its purpose is for decoration and to confuse the locals, many of whom don't really know what to do with it. The writing on the wall should be mál, of course, meaning "goal" or "finishing line", for example in a boat race. Malð makes as much sense as goalð. This misspelling has achieved almost iconic status on these windswept islands and beyond. Check Rems Blogt for more info.
Here's a shot from June 2006 with the offending letter painted over; my shot was taken last summer with the Ð restored to its former glory. At least two people in the Faroes care about this silent consonant quite a lot.
And while we're on the subject of Faroe Island football: I was there at the end of August 2011, and by chance was able to watch the national football team training for a World Cup qualifying match against Italy on September 2. When you consider that even the lowest paid Italian professional probably earns more in one week than the Faroe Islands' annual GNP, the unlucky 1-0 defeat was really a thumping victory for the islanders. Our ship was already on its way to Greenland by this time, but over the North Atlantic swell you could almost hear from the stadium the unisono "Vi blev røvet!". Sepp Blatter, unsurprisingly, was unavailable for comment last night.
GOALÐ! GOALÐ! GOALÐ!
Poor spelling on a wall in Tórshavn, capital of the Faroe Islands.
As any scholar of Faroese will tell you, the letter Edd (Ð,ð) is a curious linguistic beast: only there because Icelandic has it, but never pronounced. Its purpose is for decoration and to confuse the locals, many of whom don't really know what to do with it. The writing on the wall should be mál, of course, meaning "goal" or "finishing line", for example in a boat race. Malð makes as much sense as goalð. This misspelling has achieved almost iconic status on these windswept islands and beyond. Check Rems Blogt for more info.
Here's a shot from June 2006 with the offending letter painted over; my shot was taken last summer with the Ð restored to its former glory. At least two people in the Faroes care about this silent consonant quite a lot.
And while we're on the subject of Faroe Island football: I was there at the end of August 2011, and by chance was able to watch the national football team training for a World Cup qualifying match against Italy on September 2. When you consider that even the lowest paid Italian professional probably earns more in one week than the Faroe Islands' annual GNP, the unlucky 1-0 defeat was really a thumping victory for the islanders. Our ship was already on its way to Greenland by this time, but over the North Atlantic swell you could almost hear from the stadium the unisono "Vi blev røvet!". Sepp Blatter, unsurprisingly, was unavailable for comment last night.